Advocate for Youth
Summer Film Festival
David Miller can't say
no to helping kids
See story, page A3
OMSl features the best
of the best ¡MAX fdms
fo r summer
See Arts & Entertainment, page A7
w ÎJortlanh OOhsertier
CitV o of f Roses
RoSCS
‘City
Established
in in
1970
Established
1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV. N um ber 19
.Week in
The Review
Switched at Birth
Tw o w om en sw itched at birth
have met af
ter 56 years
and a life
time of mix-
up rum ors.
DNA tests proved «that Kay
Rene Qualls and Dee Ann Shafer
were given to the w rong par
ents after they were bom in
1953 at Pioneer M em orial H os
pital in H eppner, Ore.
Soldier Kills 5 Comrades
An A m erican soldier opened
fire at a counseling center on a
m ilitary base in Iraq M onday,
killing five fellow soldiers. Presi
dent Barack O bam a said he was
"sh o c k e d an d d e e p ly s a d
dened" by the report. See sto ry ,
pageA 2.
www
n o
rtla
n n
d d n o h b s se
e rv rve
e r r.co
m m m
w w w n .p
rtla
Dynamic Artist
Wednesday • May 13. 2009
‘Coming Home’
Art Hop pays
tribute to
Thelma
Johnson Streat
O ne o f P ortland’s m ost dy
nam ic and historical artists is
com ing home during the annual
Art Hop celebration sponsored
by the non-profit com m unity
organization Art on Alberta.
Saturday’s 10th annual event
will feature works by the inter
nationally acclaimed artist and
dancer Thelm a Johnson Streat
(1911-1959), the first A frican
American woman to be collected
by the prestigious M useum o f
M odem Art in New York City.
Unemployment Security
President O bam a
wants unem ploy
ment insurance to
becom e a step
p in g sto n e fo r
future w ork by
m aking it easier
to enroll in school or jo b train
ing and keep your benefits. See
Thelma Johnson Streat's ‘Rabbit Man' (above) and
‘Black Kings' (left) are works considered prime
examples o f abstract expressionism.
Up to 50 o f Streat’s original
w o rk s, o n lo a n fro m th e
Thelma Johnson Streat Project
in Salem, will be on display for
this one day celebration. Par
ticipating Alberta Street galler
ies showing Streat’s artwork
are Ampersand, Black United
Fund, Grow, Guardino Gallery,
and Talisman. In addition, Ur
story, page A2.
Health of Social Security,
Medicare Takes Plunge
The financial health o f Social
S ecurity and M edicare has
w orsened because o f the se
vere recession, and M edicare
is now paying out m ore than it
receives. T rustees o f the pro-1
gram s said T uesday that Social
Security will start paying out
more in benefits than it collects
in taxes in 2016, one year sooner
than projected last year.
You’re Not Fired
M iss C alifornia
USA can retain
her crow n after
questions arose
about sem i-nude
photographs taken o f her as a
teenager and her association
with a conservative advocacy
group for m arriage, pageant
owner Donald Trum p said Tues
day.
Clemens Denies Drug Use
N ew York Y an
k e e s b a s e b a ll
p itc h e r R o g e r
C lem en s broke
his silence T ues
day, again denying that form er
p erso n al
tr a in e r
B ria n
M cNam ee injected him with
perform ance-enhancing drugs.
C lem ens said he chose to speak
out because it was the release
date o f a book about his al leged
drug use.
Thelma Johnson Streat
ban Arts Dance is incorporat
ing S treat’s dance routines
NE ALBINA
Street
into their Saturday performances.
Art Hop will close 17 blocks
o f N o rth e a st A lb e rta S treet
from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to accom
m o d a te o v e r 150 a r tis ts .
craftspeople, music, dance and
theater perform ances, interac
tive art events along with food
and other vendors. Two stages
are being sponsored by Binks
and Siren Nation.
S tre a t w as in te rn a tio n a lly
k now n in the m id -tw en tieth
century for her visual and per
fo rm a n ce art. She also p io
neered work to prom ote inter-
cultural understanding with a
focus tow ards youth.
She was fascinated with the
pow er o f indigenous cultures
to teach understanding, toler
ance, and appreciation o f di
versity. With hum ble begin
n in g s in Y ak im a
and
Pendleton, she m oved to Port
la n d an d g r a d u a te d fro m
W ashington H igh School in
continued
on page A10
Rough Patch for Social Services
County chair
goes to the
drawing board
by J ake
T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
M ultnom ah County provides gov
ernm ent services that are so bread-
and-butter th ey 're often overlooked.
B ut w ith th e c o u n ty ’s b u d g e t e n
snared in the sagging econom y it’s
looking at a 15 percent across the board
cut.
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty C h a ir T ed
W heeler is hoping to tum the crisis
“But in the absence of
in to an o p p o rtu n ity by
them, you notice it,” he
g o ad in g the L eg islatu re
added.
into enacting tax revenue
T h e co u n ty g o v e rn
reform.
ment
provides social ser
He recently outlined the
vices for the city’s most
issue before the Eastside
vulnerable citizens, such
D em ocratic Club, a civic
as the m entally ill, senior
organization that provides
citizen s, and dom estic
a progressive forum to dis
v io len ce v ictim s, said
c u s s is s u e s an d c a n d i
Wheeler.
dates. During his 45 minute
It also provides other
talk, W heeler explained the
services like jails, pros
situation the county is in,
ecutors, health clinics,
and w hat h e’s doing to get Ted Wheeler
and re-entry services for
it out o f a rough patch.
E v en W h e eler ad m its th at m ost inmates, he added.
However, these services are being
things the county does are “not very
squeezed by the abysm al economy.
sexy.”
W heeler said h e’s trying to get the
Legislature to change how the county
is funded.
He explained that the tax “kicker" law,
w hich requires the state to partially
refund income taxes if the am ount col
lected is above what is projected, is
problem atic. If the state collects more
revenue than it expected that money
should go into a “rainy day” fund for
times like these, argued Wheeler.
“T hat m ay have been great for a
short term pop,” said W heeler o f the
kicker. “ But now here we are a couple
years later in a very tough economy
with no meaningful reserves to fall back
continued
on page A3
Child Actor Gets a Taste of Hollywood
Roles come after move to L.A.
age range in Phoenix, Ariz.
by J ake T homas
He easily w on the com peti
T
he P ortland O bserver
Alleged Nazi Hears Charges
tion, w hich cam e with a cool
Charles
Lott
Sr.
always
knew
S itting in a w heelchair and
$10,000 prize. He w ow ed the
breathing through a nasal tube, that his son had a flair for the
ju d g e s with a m onologue on
theatrical,
but
d
id
n
't
foresee
his
retired A m erican auto worker
how he tries to avoid becoming
John D em janjuk listened si fast rise as a child actor.
e x a c tly lik e h is fa th e r w ho
L
o
tt
re
m
e
m
b
e
rs
h
is
so
n
,
lently T uesday as a Germ an!
shares his same name. His m od
judge read a 21-page warrant C harles Lott Jr., always w ant
eling, and cold reads on the spot
ing
to
put
on
a
show
in
church.
accusing him o f acting as an
accessory to the m urder o f He would mimic the preacher
29,000 people at a Nazi death and w ould sneak on the stage
when dancers were performing.
camp.
It annoyed his parents, but d e
Cheaper Gas for Summer lighted everyone else.
A fter a plunge in gas prices,
L ott’s com fort being on stage
A m ericans are expected to hit and natural talen t for acting
the highw ays in larger numbers have quickly catapulted the ca
this M emorial Day, giving a reer o f the 9-year-old Portland
boost to the traditional start of native. H e's relocated to Los
the sum m er driving season, A ngeles, and is slated to ap
AAA said Tuesday.
pear in big name films, like Iron
M an 2.
Lott Jr.'s start in acting o c
cu rred suddenly. H is fam ily
heard about a local acting com
p etitio n last year, w here the
w inner would have a chance to
com pete with over 200 other Portland child actor Charles
youths in the 6 to 10-year-old Lott Jr.
Child actor Charles Lott Jr. poses next to a stunt car at Universal Studios in Los Angeles.
Lott was getting them in droves
also im pressed the judges.
“Pop! Cam eras everywhere I from headhunters. After care
went," exclaim ed Lott of the at fully considering the slew of
tention he got at the com peti offers by talent representatives
L ott's family chose an agency,
tion.
Most fam ilies who take their H ines & Hunt, they felt they
kids to auditions can hope to could trust. They quickly got a
get maybe one call back. But deal for a national food chain.
»
follow ed by a Vitamin Water
c o m m ercial fe a tu rin g Kobe
Bryant and Lebron James.
But L ott's rising star inevita
bly meant a big change for him
and his family. T h ere’s just not
continued
on page A 10